Must-haves for EASY DIY controller?

[TheFishMan65]

Hey John, I think it is a lower case k for metric.

So I think the solution is that terahz has reached 1k, but not 1K. He just had a typo in his post that started all this

 

[terahz]

The hydra wiki is lacking in instruction as well. Very little description was given for the different boards

It would be nice to know what you think is lacking. We have no way of knowing what others need unless they tell us. And, as far as I know, there is only one board .

and I'm not convinced the bom is complete/up to date

What makes you say that? I don't recall anyone coming back saying that part X from the board is nowhere to be found in the bom. Nothing has changed in the hardware either since the last revision of the bom. Again, if you find something like that do say and we'll try to fix it.

Imo there needs to be a comprehensive guide for hydra the wiki, webpage, and this thread are too fragmented. That being said, I admire you guys for putting in all the work you have and making it opensource. Lmk if I can help with any grunt work should you all decide to do a more comprehensive guide.

Feel free to write what you think is missing on the wiki and we'll put it there.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I've made a few random edits to the wiki today. I plan on adding more material over the next week. If anyone has input on what's missing, now would be a great time to hear it. Terahz and I are probably "too close" to this stuff to know what might be missing to someone new to the project.

 

[discussmith]

Jeff Prince I e-mailed you about boards as I don't have enough posts for pm.

Thanks

 

[ironman187]

It would be nice to know what you think is lacking. We have no way of knowing what others need unless they tell us. And, as far as I know, there is only one board .

I'm talking the main controller board, the relay board, the UPS board, the ELN board, as far as I could find, only the controller board got attention on the wiki.

What makes you say that? I don't recall anyone coming back saying that part X from the board is nowhere to be found in the bom. Nothing has changed in the hardware either since the last revision of the bom. Again, if you find something like that do say and we'll try to fix it.

I never said the BOM was missing anything, I said I was not confident that it was up to date with the board or vice versa, I don't know if it includes parts for the other boards etc.

Feel free to write what you think is missing on the wiki and we'll put it there.

I wish I knew what was missing, lol. I am going to be building this in the next month or so, I'll try to relay my experience in a way where other noobs such as myself can follow along easily.

Anyway, I hope you took no offense to either of my last posts, They were not meant ot be offensive, just constructive. And since I don't have any expertise in the programming, or circuit design aspect of things, if I am able, I would like to contribute some more comprehensive information. BTW, A while ago I asked about where one could even find the schematics and board layout files. I was given a link and was told that the links were lurking somewhere in this thread. I'm sure they are, but like i said, I don't have time to wade through 67 pages of technical goodness, and I know I'm not alone. I could never find the actual files if I went to the wiki page, only by following the links could I find them.

At any rate, you guys have dome some stellar work on the hardware and software sides of this thing from what I've seen.

 

[TheShadow]

Having no experience and know knowledge of programming. If an individual were to build the hydra with the components and the directions provided on wiki, perhaps a basic program written for those exact components, To get it up and running out of the box so to speak. I personally have mine up and running thanks to all of you answering a lot of dumb questions. I built it with everything provided on wiki. When completed. I was left with Terhaz’s software on steroids (The man is a Phenom) Took me a week to figure out what an IR was and then realized I didn’t have one. I am trying to learn the programming, although it might be easier to build on it rather than to try and dummy down Terhaz’s work of art. Please don’t take offence I am grinning from ear to ear with how it works so far.

 

[TheShadow]

Having no experience and know knowledge of programming. If an individual were to build the hydra with the components and the directions provided on wiki, perhaps a basic program written for those exact components, To get it up and running out of the box so to speak. I personally have mine up and running thanks to all of you answering a lot of dumb questions. I built it with everything provided on wiki. When completed. I was left with Terhaz's software on steroids (The man is a Phenom) Took me a week to figure out what an IR was and then realized I didn't have one. I am trying to learn the programming, although it might be easier to build on it rather than to try and dummy down Terhaz's work of art. Please don't take offence I am grinning from ear to ear with how it works so far.

 

[terahz]

Anyway, I hope you took no offense to either of my last posts, They were not meant ot be offensive, just constructive.

No worries. My point was that by saying 'The hydra wiki is lacking in instruction as well' you're not really telling us much. As DWZM mentioned we're too close to the project to think of what others might consider lacking. Now this:

I'm talking the main controller board, the relay board, the UPS board, the ELN board, as far as I could find, only the controller board got attention on the wiki.

is better. And I agree, most of the "third party" boards are just mentioned on the wiki. I've written as much as I know about them (basically their schematic/board/bom locations). It is up to their creators to share the info. I have described how I've done my setup by modding the americandj strips.

I wish I knew what was missing, lol. I am going to be building this in the next month or so, I'll try to relay my experience in a way where other noobs such as myself can follow along easily.

I hope you find the assembly instructions adequate. But do let us know of what you think is missing. As I said that's the only way we can make this better - feedback.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

FWIW one of the updates I did yesterday was adding a few sentences to the "user projects" boards you're referencing. The UPS is not really ready for "production" as I never actually tested it fully and don't really have any plans to - it was just a fun project, you could get the same result by plugging the unit in to an off the shelf UPS. The relayboard is dirt simple, it's basically an MCP23008 with some transistors to let it switch higher loads. I put some text on the relay control page giving an overview of how it might be used for that.

 

[discussmith]

When going to the wiki I find all the file listings, but when I click on them I get a message that it can't be displayed. I'm not at all familiar with how this is all supposed to work. I would like to get whatever I need to order the boards and hardware. What do I do to open these files?

 

[terahz]

The board was designed using Eagle: http://www.cadsoftusa.com/

 

[Hamato]

You will need something that can open excel documents for the BOM file which contains the part listings you will need to order. Microsoft provides a free viewer.
You can use Eagle to view the board/schematic, but if you just want to order one, there are pre-generated gerber files in a zip file on the google project site which is what the PCB makers will want to actually create the board for you.

http://iteadstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19_20&products_id=173

Here are direct links to the latest BOM and Gerbers which are what you will need to get started with ordering the parts.

http://hydra-reef.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/hardware/hydra/bom.xlsx
http://hydra-reef.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/hardware/hydra/hydra_gerbers.zip

When going to the wiki I find all the file listings, but when I click on them I get a message that it can't be displayed. I'm not at all familiar with how this is all supposed to work. I would like to get whatever I need to order the boards and hardware. What do I do to open these files?

 

[discussmith]

Thanks terahz; I had already gotten that but I guess I don't know how to get eagle to find the files. I assume then I have to download the wiki but that's where I'm stalled.
I've gotten a print-out of the BOM but I can't seem to find the PCB's so I can order them. I mean I find the .brd and .sch files but can't display, print, or copy them any where to get them to eagle.

 

[SUMMERS]

Thanks terahz; I had already gotten that but I guess I don't know how to get eagle to find the files. I assume then I have to download the wiki but that's where I'm stalled.
I've gotten a print-out of the BOM but I can't seem to find the PCB's so I can order them. I mean I find the .brd and .sch files but can't display, print, or copy them any where to get them to eagle.

Try it in Firefox

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I added a new getting files section to the homepage of the wiki site with this text:

The design files (schematic, pcb, BOM, and gerbers) can be found on the Google Code Page. To download the actual files, follow that link, click on the file you're interested in (on the right side of the screen) then click the "view raw file" link near the bottom-right corner of the screen.
Hydra was designed using Cadsoft EAGLE. The pcb and schematic files can be viewed in EAGLE. A freeware version of EAGLE can be downloaded from the Cadsoft website.
The BOM (Bill of materials) is an excel spreadsheet - any software that can view excel files can be used to open it.
The Firmware page lists current firmware for the board.

This has links to everything you will need to get all the relevant files and open/use them. Hopefully this helps with all the "where do I get stuff" questions. If anyone still has trouble, post here and we'll try to help.

 

[discussmith]

Hey Thanks; That's just what I needed. I'm sure it will take some time now to get them delivered but I'll keep you posted. I've already envisioned other uses for this same controller so I'll probably make a couple. One for the tank and one to play with.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

No prob. And we really do mean what we said on the last page - terahz and I are too close to this to know what newcomers need in terms of info, so please - feel free to point things out if any of you are confused or have trouble finding info on the project.

 

[NarumiHayaashi]

Bom

Bom

No prob. And we really do mean what we said on the last page - terahz and I are too close to this to know what newcomers need in terms of info, so please - feel free to point things out if any of you are confused or have trouble finding info on the project.

Hey der_wille and welcome discussmith!

Been out of country so haven't kept up on my posts In any case I wanted to point out some things I found with the BOM. Some of the digikey parts are out of stock or discontinued. I know most of these are the resistors and probably easy to find replacements, but just wanted to point it out.

Oh and was also wanting to ask about touch screens. I'm thinking one with an I2C? I know it was mentioned in the thread way ago, but was wondering if anything ever happened?

Thanks and awesome work! Love DIY projects

 

[jc286006]

i have downloaded all the files at the wiki and read all the info i recieved a V1.0 pcb from SUMMER on RC thanks again SUMMER!!! when i purchase the parts for assembly do i also need to purchase the MCP23008 port expander? right now i have a 16x2 lcd display i had purchased for another project will this work with this board or do i need the 20x4 lcd i would like to eventually go to a 128x64 lcd! if i have to purchase a 20x4 i might as well just get the 128x64 from the start
all help with this would be greatly appreciated
james

 

[discussmith]

Problem with Gerber files

Problem with Gerber files

I have been trying with no success to e-mail the gerber files to itead. I have downloaded expanded erased and downloaded and expanded again to try to e-mail them. I have tried everything i can think of but ie stops working due to some problem reading the attachment files when emailing. Is it possible after the last edit that something corrupted the zip file? Has anyone else tried to use them lately? If not am I not downloading them correctly? I go to the google site with the link and then right click on the gerber.zip file and save it. It expands with all the right file extentions itead requires but it seems one of the can't be read when e-mailing and everything locks.